For those of you out there who have looked to purchase emergency preparedness items like freeze dried foods, emergency candles, first aid kits, etc. and been put off by the extraordinarily high shipping costs to the island, your saviors have arrived!! Hawaii Prepared is now here. Two families in Waimea have gotten together and found a way to provide these items to our residents for reasonable prices.

From their “About Us” page:

“Hawaii Prepared came about after our two families began building our own family storage of quality food and emergency essentials. We soon realized that access to these products on the Big Island was limited, and shipping these products to our home island was costly. After a year of working through logistics and a couple of shipments of food to the Big Island, we became aware that there are many people living here that wanted access to these same products. We decided that we needed to find a way to break through the substantial barriers, not only for ourselves, but also our friends and neighbors. It was upon that conversation that we began to plan how we would provide to our island the very products we had researched, purchased, and shipped.

Today we operate as a small company with a simple vision: Provide quality food storage and emergency essentials to our friends and neighbors on the Big Island of Hawaii. We hope our products continue to create peace of mind to our customers while helping our Island be just a little better prepared for the unexpected.”

There are no shipping costs, just place your order through the website or over the phone, and they will either meet you, or deliver to you! They even offer bulk/group rates. I contacted them, and they told me their ‘seeds’ page should start filling up with items in the new year as well. Heirloom seeds are an important addition to any family’s preparedness kits.

Now there is no excuse for not being prepared. Whether it’s an earthquake, tsunami, bad storm, power outage or even a volcano eruption, remember that most stores only carry about three days worth of stocks on the shelves. We all realize that it wouldn’t take much for regular shipments of food and other products to our island to falter; an earthquake on the West coast, or even a shipping strike.

Watching the aftermath of Sandy, my heart goes out to all the people affected by the storm, for lost loved ones, lost homes and lost treasures. So much has been tragically wiped away. But this blog is about emergency preparedness, so I cannot help but comment on the apparent severe lack of preparedness, both official and personal, physical and psychological, as the horrific stories of survival and loss continue to pour in.

One might argue that no one imagined it would be as bad as it was. No one imagined it would wipe places like the Jersey Shore and Staten Island nearly off the map. On the other hand, the weather predictions were eerily accurate many days ahead of the storm. The weather people can’t tell you, hey, that neighborhood will erupt in flames; but they can now clearly predict how really, really bad the system is and almost exactly where it is headed, and when. They can – and did – accurately predict storm surge on top of high tides and the full moon and warn that places like the New York subway would likely be flooded.

And still, too many people were not adequately prepared. Not prepared to erect flood barriers, or evacuate wider areas – not prepared to bug in, or bug out. Not prepared for what a disaster like that could mean for them, personally, and their families, neighbors and community. Not prepared what “lights out” and broken transportation mean in a crowded city where few people keep more than a day’s worth of food at home or even own cars.

Perhaps it is that big-city, modern technology-based mentality that kept people from realizing how very bad it could be. We are so damn spoiled…maybe even hypnotized by our entertainment media, smart phones and video games, not to prioritize these things appropriately. It doesn’t really matter why a giant megastorm is freaking out the meteorologists on mainstream news, all you need to do is pay attention and GET OUT. FEMA cannot reach so many thousands of people in a few dozen hours, even on their best day. Katrina should have taught us that. So unless you had been serious about your preps, with a storm like that on its way you need to get your family somewhere safe and no buts about it.

What I saw instead was a mad rush 24-48 hours before it hit, leaving store shelves completely empty of food, water, batteries, etc. Many people were not only not leaving – they weren’t the least bit prepared. #vodka #cigarettes If it had been an earthquake, or even a tsunami warning, then they’d really have been screwed. It should be clear to people now that if you have to participate in that kind of panic, you are not prepared.Especially if you have children and needed to participate in that panic, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Really.

I mean that with all due respect, to all the displaced people. So many of them weren’t prepared because, to begin with, their local governments weren’t prepared. I don’t think Mayor Bloomberg helped when he seems to have downplayed the storm and waited to call for evacuations only after some stormy criticism from the weather guys, no pun intended. (And then had to be shamed into canceling the marathon – what is wrong with that guy?) No one wants to leave their treasured home and neighborhood believe me – I understand, I have one too. But in these times one must pay attention, and tune in to what really matters. #GetTheKidsAndGetTFOut #CheckOnYourElderlyNeighbors #ThisIsNotATest

Then afterwards, to express shock at the time it took for people to get assistance and access to the things they are used to – like fresh water, gas stations, food, and even bathrooms – that in itself is shocking. What did people expect from a megastorm a thousand miles wide with the barometric force of a Category 3 hurricane moving through one of the world’s most densely populated megalopoli? If you chose not to heed a mandatory evacuation, you don’t really have a right to complain that it’s taken many days for relief to arrive. If you chose not to heed a mandatory evacuation, one must assume you are PREPARED.

In some ways perhaps, it may not be possible to adequately prepare for such mega-destruction. People did not think that the water would come up so high in places like Staten Island. FEMA actually ran out of bottled water. So what to do? We all pray there will not be a next time but if there is, one can only hope some important lessons have been learned. Ultimately this is all I can suggest: GET OUT. I guess, if you live in NYC, you’re probably not going to be a “prepper”. And if you’re a prepper, you probably don’t live in NYC. That really may be the bottom line here.

We left the big city life behind a long time ago with these things in mind. But that doesn’t mean we are immune to disaster. Hawaii is not a magical place where bad thing never happen. We now live on a volcano, and tsunamis have devastated our island several times. We are ready as much as we can afford to be. We have bug-out bags in various places, and we never let our cars go below half a tank. We have a few supplies stored at home in case we ever get stuck here without other resources, like in a tsunami (we live at altitude, but a big wave could wipe out the stores downtown). We also chose to live somewhere far away from the roving hordes, where culturally, many people tend to gather and share as community even when there is no emergency, and have experience living off the land and sea. #Ohana

The reality of life off the grid, whether you like it or not, can be cruel if you’re not ready for it. Most people cannot fathom life without electricity for an extended period of time. After just a couple of days, people are angry, petulant, demanding, as if “power-on” is some kind of inalienable right.

It’s not. Be ready for it. #EMP #CME

Infrastructure meltdown happens really very quickly, as many in the Northeast are now experiencing. Hawaii is also heavily reliant on regular shipments of food and supplies. If a barge is late, you might find few choices left in the toilet paper aisle at Safeway one afternoon, or that your favorite cereal won’t be in until next Thursday. Have extras of those kinds of things at home. You’re naïve – or downright stupid – if you don’t. Here, as in bigger cities, people are likely to take things for granted like technology, Internet, smart phones, lattes, all-night convenience stores…how about refrigeration? Heat on a cold night? A clean bathroom? Medical care? Think about life without any of those things. Or maybe you live on Staten Island, so you don’t have to imagine it any more. #TheWalkingDead

Fortunately, Hawaii’s volcanoes are not known for pyroclastic explosions, and generally there is enough time to get out before the lava comes. My husband and I were expressing our amazement at the level of anxiety in Sandy’s wake, wondering whether more people might have taken the hint and left the area before it hit, or have had more supplies on hand to wait out the relief trucks. So much was wiped away, we realize; on the other hand, what if people had been told lava may be coming to their neighborhood in a couple of days? Might they have fled more readily and rapidly, and might the government done more to prepare as well? Maybe. But a wall of water? Eh. I think we may discover in the days and weeks to come that it was a whole lot worse…IS a whole lot worse than anyone could imagine, or that is even reported on the MSM to date.

You don’t have to be a “doomsday prepper” or believe in end-of-the-world prophecies to see the wisdom in basic emergency preparedness. And if you live anywhere near a nuclear power plant…well…that’s a whole other can of worms isn’t it. #Fukushima

Seriously people. It doesn’t matter where you live anymore. Tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes… sinkholes… BE PREPARED and don’t put it off. DO IT NOW. ESPECIALLY if you insist on staying in a heavily populated area, or near a coast at sea level. #Chaos This includes preparing family and children, and yourself, psychologically for the possibility that things could be very difficult during an emergency.

Let’s hope things get sorted out pretty darn quick and everyone is safe, warm and fed before the next storm. And if you’ve procrastinated in your own preparations, consider this: if a volcano were erupting near your house or city in Hawaii or on the mainland (which by the way it could in SoCal,or really anywhere in the Southwest not even considering Yellowstone), would you leave? So what will it take to get you prepared for other disasters and emergencies? There are plenty of resources to help you and your family make a plan, even on a budget. Check my sidebar or search online now in your state, before the power goes out. Please don’t let a disaster hit your hometown and surprise you and your family. Be ready.

As we were watching the coverage of Hurricane Sandy – a Frankenstorm, Megastorm, Superstorm hybrid of a mess converging on the East Coast, a 7.7 earthquake hit off the coast of western Canada. After an hour or two the authorities finally issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii, in effect now.

Unfortunately, we have much less time to prepare for a tsunami than the East Coast has had to prepare for Sandy. Hopefully everyone had their bug-out bag ready to go, with their important medications and papers, extra clothes and supplies, when they evacuated the tsunami zones.

For more information, please check the sidebar emergency links. Current tsunami advisory statement can be found here.

In my last post I mentioned how important it is to consider food security, especially living in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately our islands are not self-sustaining – we cannot support the population without importing food. On top of that, the mainland drought is sure to bring even higher food costs, so storing something extra now is something to consider. How much depends on your own concerns and budget, but every family should have enough for at least a couple of weeks. And here in Hawaii, there’s not much excuse for having at least one edible on your lanai. Even if it’s not enough to completely support your family, you will gain the experience and appreciation for growing your own healthy food. And who knows – that knowledge may come in handy one day.

My parents both have green thumbs. I grew up in a house in the suburbs on the East Coast full of happy houseplants of all shapes and sizes, and a summer garden with an abundance of fresh veggies. I remember eating tomatoes off the vine, big beefsteak tomatoes literally bursting with deep red juiciness. But, alas, I didn’t seem to inherit the verdant digit. I wasn’t so interested in digging in the dirt with Dad back then, and any houseplant Mom put in my bedroom ended up sad and dying after a few months. I figured that sort of thing just wasn’t for me and I never gave it another thought, until I bought my first house back in Los Angeles. Suddenly, I wanted my own garden.

I managed to scrape out a few tomatoes, peppers and zucchini from that sad little plot back in the ‘hood. But believe it or not, when we moved to Hawaii it took many years for me to think about doing that again, because we were so busy working. Finally around 2007 I realized time was of the essence. I had to get serious about being prepared and figure out how to replace some of that lawn with something edible.

The first few years saw a lot of failures – I mean a LOT. It was depressing and stressful. One time I had sprouted dozens of seeds in one of those plastic trays with a lid, forgot and left the lid on during a hot day, and when I came home they were all fried. I was horrified; like I had been some sort of mass murderer of tiny children. But I definitely learned how to sprout seeds after that, and it’s one of my favorite parts of gardening now. Even my Dad, who I now know had mostly used starters, has started using more seeds too just to try some different things in his garden, and because, well, there is something satisfying about seeing that tiny speck become such a magnificent and useful entity.

Another mistake was more of a learning curve in terms of soil amendments. We have a local garden supply place here called Farm & Garden, and the guy who works there knows who I am by now because I am constantly pestering him with questions about what to do about this or that. Fortunately he always gives a patient smile along with his advice. Also, I learned that dirt – good dirt anyway – can be expensive, unless you make your own. At least for us on the leeward side, our soil tends to be shallow and rocky. So I can tell you from experience: if you’re starting out and need dirt, don’t be cheap about it, and compost, compost, compost, amend, amend, amend. Seriously – don’t buy a truckload of cheap dead dirt like we did. Good soil looks and feels like chocolate cake, not dusty gravel. Get some chickens too if you’re serious about good soil – which we are, and did. Good eggs too. ;)

Bugs and blight. Always trouble for the hopeful organic gardener. A friend of mine says she is trying diluted Simple Green for those problems on her plants, supposedly that is considered an organic option. I do sometimes use neem oil and Dr. Bronner’s peppermint castile soap, but unless you are seriously dedicated to spraying every leaf top and bottom every few days or if it rains it doesn’t seem to keep them at bay for long. I have been known to use BT and sometimes copper for the mildews and blights. They say those are organic options. I’m taking their word for it because I don’t want to lose another entire crop of cucumbers to worms again, or not continue to fight for those pesky tomatoes to survive their numerous blights. Tomatoes are – and excuse my French – a bitch to grow over on our side for some reason. But I have found a couple of strains that seem to do ok, and you can be sure I learned to save seeds from those varieties and have already grown subsequent generations much more successfully than when I first started. Seed saving is very satisfying. It makes you feel free of the system or something. Funny; I sometimes feel my grandparents, who were small farmers nearly a century ago, are smiling down on me somewhere, especially given the horrors of modern agriculture, Monsanto and all that. I believe the dedicated organic and heirloom farmer will eventually save the planet, one way or another, one plot of land at a time.

Slugs were a big problem when I first dug the garden. I lost a lot of young plants that way. I read somewhere that every piece of land has its share of slugs but that if you physically remove them you won’t have to worry about them again for several years. That has been my experience, to my surprise, at least for the most part. We had those seriously scary ginormous tiger slugs and I would go out after dark with a pair of chopsticks, a flashlight and a jar with a very secure lid – because those guys are strong I can tell you, and fast – and literally pick them out of my garden one by one. It took a few weeks of midnight diligence, and my family still finds the whole thing very humorous, but after that they were just kind of gone and I haven’t seen any since. I now only occasionally see evidence, at which time I scatter some iron phosphate ‘safe’ slug killer (debatable but I haven’t had any problems) and whatever may have been there goes away again. I only do that about once every six months now.

Leeward side gardening has the added issue of drought, so I do collect some rainwater when we get it. We’re high enough elevation to get some moisture but since we seem to get most of our rain in the spring and fall, if at all (used to be summer, but our climate has shifted too as I have heard told by some of the local ranchers) I now plant in January/February, and again in late summer. That way I kind of avoid being reliant on rain when it’s really hot and/or dry. So in the middle of summer when most mainland gardens have to be in full swing, much of my garden has been cleared and composted. That also seems to help with the bugs and blight as well by the way, since they seem to be in fullest swing for me in mid-summer.

The exceptions are the perennials, of which I have only a few, but I’m working on that. Come to find that here in Hawaii, since we never have frost, some things just never die! I have collards and long green eggplant that are like TREES by now – several years old. They just keep branching off and have even grown back after I thought I pulled them up by the roots! At that point I let them live; I figure they really want to grow there so just let them do their thing. So while some things tend to be difficult – like tomatoes and cucumbers – others basically move in permanently.

Due to our rocky ground, I did try some straw bale gardening. It didn’t work so well for me the first time, but I’m going to try it again, when my husband decides to recycle the bales on his archery targets. I think I didn’t feed them enough first. I did create some above ground potato beds using old wire fencing. I put straw around the sides and filled them with dirt and compost, and successfully grew some potatoes. A couple of them have ginger and turmeric in them now. I have a separate plot for herbs, but I also keep some in pots closer to the house which is more convenient to the kitchen.

I have probably lost more plants than I grew since I started, and for a year or so I didn’t do anything out there at all. I was too cranky about the failures and too busy working, so it went to weed. But I got back on the horse, dug up even more of our lawn, and no longer cry over every failure, so to speak. I have learned to take it in stride, know my enemies and keep plowing forward no matter what. Kind of a good philosophy for a lot of things. And, we’ve learned to appreciate what we can grow. Want zucchini? Too bad – eat your green beans. This fall, I’m trying Brussels Sprouts again, after a spectacular failure a few years ago. Maybe they will do better this time, but if not, c’est la vie and I’ll try something else. And, I’ve been learning to can – nothing like eating homemade butter pickles or preserving that bumper crop of eggplant.

It took awhile, but I now understand why many consider gardening to be a powerfully meditative, positive experience, even with the losses and frustrations. Growing food is also pro-active against the doom and gloom out there. Your family’s food security is a vital topic, but despite the hard work, can be rewarding on so many levels. Dig in!

In the wake of Hurricane Isaac, President Obama has declared September National Preparedness Month. It’s a good time to take another look at your family’s state of disaster readiness. If you live on Oahu, a Preparedness EXPO sponsored by FEMA, the Department of Emergency Management and the Honolulu-Pacific Federal Executive Board is planned for September 26. So far, 2012 has seen its share of disasters, from wildfires and drought to storms and floods. Here is a list of declared disasters in the US in 2012 from FEMA. And if you’re curious, here is a list of major declared disasters in the state of Hawaii since 1955. Clearly we need to be ready for anything here as well.

Staying informed is a good first step. Assuming that the next disaster is not an EMP or high-energy CME which could disable all of our electronics (unless you have a homemade Faraday cage, which isn’t a bad idea), there are a multitude of ways to stay connected. If power and/or Internet is down in your area, you’ll want to be sure to have a battery, hand crank or solar-powered NOAA weather radio. A lot of them have ports to charge your phone and other small devices. Get Ready Hawaii is a great resource – they even offer various alerts. Other than various online monitoring services such as the National Hurricane Center or Global Incident Map, there are all kinds of apps for your smart phone you can use to track storms and get earthquake alerts. Weather.com offers quite a few options. Firefox has a pretty neat add-on called eQuake Alert, which causes your screen to jiggle when there is a quake. You can have the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center email you any warnings. Remember that a large earthquake anywhere around the Ring of Fire could cause a tsunami here in Hawaii within hours. Here are some tips for staying connected during a disaster from Off-grid.net. Another great resource is The Survival Mom, whose website is chock full of tips and ideas for readying your family. Here is an interesting article about survival.

Even though there is no advance warning system for earthquakes, with some simple reorganizing it’s possible to better protect your household from those sudden jolts. Check out Quakeinfo.org for tips on preparations around the house, such as fixing unsecured objects on shelves and placement of heavy furniture. I make sure my glassware is stored at the back of the shelf as much as possible, especially if it contains foodstuffs: after the quake we had here in 2006, I remember cleaning up the remains of a large glass container of cooking oil which fell and shattered on the floor. What a mess.

Drought remains a problem for much of the mainland, and in some places in Hawaii as well. If you live in an affected area, you already know how much your farm or garden can suffer. Many windward areas of the islands are on catchment, but here on the leeward side, we rely on county water. However, I do set up rainwater collecting buckets so when we do get some rain I have a little extra through the dry spells. Speaking of water, you may already know how important it is to have access to clean water during an emergency. I have suggested various water filtration options in a previous post. A solar still is an excellent alternative: build your own, or check out this portable option.

The mainland drought and subsequent food shortages will definitely affect us out here because so much of our food is shipped in. If you don’t yet grow any vegetables, now is the time to start. You could start small – sprinkle some spring onion seeds in a flower pot and pretty soon you can cross them off your grocery list. I keep three such pots going on our lanai in various stages of growth, so we always have some. Consider yourself fortunate that we can grow all year round in Hawaii. Stocking up on storable food isn’t a bad idea either, before things get too much more expensive. Watch for sales and remember to only store food you will actually use. We slowly work our way through our pantry stores and replenish as needed.

Plan to spend an hour or two sometime this month going through your family’s preparedness kits. Everyone should have supplies in their car (food, water, first aid, etc) as well as at home, ready to go at a moment’s notice. If you or a family member take medication, consider asking your doctor to write your prescription to cover a few extra weeks or months, just in case. Go over your emergency plan with your family again; make sure each child knows what to do and where to go, whether they are at home or at school, in case the unthinkable happens. And don’t forget about your pets.

Check out the links on my sidebar for more websites and information. Be prepared and stay safe.

Here we are in 2012 already. Those of you aware of the Mayan calendar (and who isn’t anymore) may be wondering about that. I am too – but being prepared this year doesn’t automatically make you someone who thinks the world is going to end in December. Last year holds the record for the costliest year of natural disasters since records have been kept. Already in 2012, bizarre weather patterns are erupting around the globe – whether it’s El Nino or Planet X, it doesn’t really matter. And earthquakes can happen anytime, anywhere. Being prepared for any emergency means keeping your loved ones safe as best you can.

In Hawaii, a mainland disaster – say, a massive earthquake on the west coast for example, could easily threaten our shipping schedules. And we know all too well how tsunamis can travel thousands of miles very quickly. Having extra medicines, toilet paper, and some storable food and water should be a given, living out here in the middle of the Pacific. Recently we’ve been researching some further detailed items we think are worthy of consideration, depending on your budget and personal concerns.

Figure if the shipping gets halted for any reason, fossil fuels will run out in a few days. Consider having a bicycle with a cargo attachment to get around. And, nowadays you can do a lot with solar power. If you have the money, investing in a solar generator of any size is not a bad idea. You can run out of gas – but (God willing!) the sun will always be there. Beyond that larger expense, there are smaller items to consider. D.light has some pretty nifty solar lanterns for sale on Amazon. We got some and have been using them in the evenings on our lanai. Plenty kine light and no electricity usage! There are also all kinds of solar and crank powered flashlights, battery chargers and shortwave radios that won’t break the bank. We have accumulated some of these over the past couple of years and store them in a small, cardboard-lined steel garbage can. Think of it like a poor man’s Faraday cage – if there were an EMP flash (read One Second After – this is a very real concern) it might protect some electronics. They need to be stored somewhere anyway where they are easy to organize and quick to access.

Vegetable seeds – non-hybrid, heirloom seeds – are another important consideration, even if you don’t have a garden right now. Buy a sealed emergency seed kit or vacuum seal them up yourself and stick them in the fridge. Ya never know.

Toilet paper – very important. That is typically the first thing to disappear from store shelves when shipping goes down, I can say from having lived through a strike here years ago. That’s also why having extra rice, pasta, canned foods and things like dehydrated mashed potatoes and dried beans are also good things to have extra of in the pantry. And be sure you can cook them without electricity – or gas for that matter, which again, could eventually run out. Camping stoves and grills are compact and inexpensive. And water – whether you buy cases from Costco or go for a larger catchment tank or barrel, if the grid went down, depending on where you live that is the most important consideration of all. Invest in several different water sanitation and filtration options, if you can afford. Again – never know.

My latest personal goal has been to flesh out our home emergency medical kit and “pharmacy”. After a lot of research I’ve found a few items any good prepper would want to know about. Obviously here in the US we can’t get antibiotics over the counter, so we have to be aware of other options, as this could be a very, very important piece of knowledge in case someone gets hurt and there is no doctor available. Even a small cut or scrape, without proper care, could lead to infection and even death. In fact, many dangerous strains of disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, so oftentimes an alternative can be life-saving. However, it is also possible to purchase fish antibiotics, even on Amazon, that are identical to those used for humans. More information on that is available here.

Grapefruit seed extract, or GSE, is monumentally useful. It’s a powerful antibacterial and antifungal. It also sanitizes water, believe it or not. In fact, it’s so powerful it can kill giardia and cryptosporidium, clear athlete’s foot, disintegrate warts and even treat colds, flus, malaria, Lyme’s disease, and perhaps even prevent HIV transmission. (Always dilute – a drop or two goes a long way.) If you use it to fight an internal parasite, consider also having something on hand to repopulate the good bacteria, like acidolphilus capsules or yogurt. Yes, it’s that strong. Do a little reading on this one, and get yourself a bottle.

Oregano oil and olive leaf oil are two others that fit into that antibiotic category. And since they contain dozens if not hundreds of naturally occurring compounds, unlike traditional antibiotics which are only one, they are less likely to cause resistance in the infection you are fighting. Olive leaf extract has some similar uses as GSE, but doesn’t kill the “good” bacteria, so it can be used daily as a prophylactic against colds and other infections. A few drops in a glass of water or juice, and you’re good to go. I’ve read lots of people put a few drops in their pet’s water as well, to prevent parasites and such.

Chinese medicine also offers a couple of things I want to mention here. I see many preppers spending a lot of money on Quikclot and other expensive blood clotting pads and powders. Check out yunnan baiyao. Much cheaper and does the trick quite effectively. I bought several and put a vial in each of our BOBs. Available on Amazon. Same goes for Ching Wan Hung, a burn ointment I have used with great success myself. Stops the pain and quickens healing.

Another topic concerns essential oils. Going back to the basics means knowing what herbs can treat what ailments, from headaches to depression, fever to bug bites. I found a great site that posted some good information – here is part I, and part II. But do your own searching as well. There is a lot to consider here.

In Hawaii, we have access to another wonderful miracle, and that is Noni. Read up on that one, if you haven’t already. Buy yourself a jar, drive down the street, gather some fruit, and make some juice.

The last item I want to bring up is called MMS, or miracle mineral solution. Of course it is followed by a lot of controversy online. Big Pharma doesn’t want us to know this stuff. But read up on it, and for the price, consider ordering a kit or two. (Sometimes available on Amazon, but they run out quickly.) It is a powerful water purifier, antibiotic and has even claimed to have cured cancers, malaria, TB, hepatitis and HIV, among others. Who knows – might save your life one day. Figured I would put that out there.

I have enjoyed reading through the Doom and Bloom site. Even their title encapsulates it all for me – doom doesn’t have to mean gloom, my friends. But, only if you’re prepared. This doctor and nurse team recently published a book on survival medical information. I look forward to reading it.

One good thing about Hawaii, depending on your elevation, hypothermia probably isn’t going to be a big concern. And if you’re on a less populated island, neither are thousands of ravenous zombies rampaging through the streets. Gardening can be done year round, and lots of people still know the old ways of life. But the possibility of not having access to proper medical care means each family needs to consider items that might save lives, if the worst happens.

The Pacific Regional Disaster Preparedness Center will offer a series of FEMA certification courses from Tuesday through Friday, Oct. 11-14 , in Hilo and Kona.

The sessions will be presented in the Hawaii Innovation Center at Hilo (HICH) conference room at 117 Keawe St., Hilo, and at the Bougainvillea Plaza in Kailua-Kona.

These courses are free and open to the public. Space is limited, so please register by Monday, Oct. 3. For more information and registration, visit the website, www.prdpc.org, call 933-2439 or email course-registration@prdpc.org.

The following courses will be taught:

— Awareness and Response to Biological Events (AWR-118 ): Identification of potential biological threats, biological agents that are naturally occurring, or could be used deliberately; and methods of protection from biological agents; tactics for identifying the presence of a potential biological threat, responding to an incident, and supporting operations at the incident scene;

— Law Enforcement Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts (AWR-122): Knowledge, skills and abilities to assist in preventing and/or deterring weapons of mass destruction (WMD) terrorist incidents. (Prerequisites: open only to persons classified as first responders);

— Community Partnerships and Awareness (AWR-146): Create a collaborative partnership among community members and public safety personnel who wish to better prepare for an all-hazards event;

It provides participants with an understanding of the tsunami hazard, current hazard assessment tools and products, tsunami warning and dissemination systems and methods, and methods of community response to local and distant tsunamis, and

— Screening of Persons by Observational Techniques (SPOT) (AWR-219): Overview of security operations that can be applied for protection of assets from terrorist acts.